Can You Use an Associates Degree in Arts for a Dental Hygienist

There are a lot of perks to becoming a dental hygienist. A dental hygiene career is high-paying, especially considering the minimum level of education required to become started. The job outlook over the next 10 years is favorable.

If you're not put off past the idea of sticking your fingers in strangers' mouths (while wearing gloves, of course), a career in dental hygiene practise may be the correct fit for you lot. Schools offer dental hygiene education programs at the associate caste, available's degree and master's degree levels, often at a groovy value. The affordable dental hygiene caste options below offer students a manner to gain specialized cognition and practice their technical skills as they complete the clinical hours required to go qualified candidates for licensure.

What Is a Dental Hygienist?

Dental hygienist is the title for the non-medico oral health specialists who examine, clean and polish patients' teeth. Working alongside and under the supervision of licensed dentists (doctors who specialize in teeth and oral health) and dental assistants, a registered dental hygienist frequently performs routine dental intendance tasks.

What Dental Hygienists Do

Some of the piece of work dental hygienists perform in a dental part or clinic might include:

• Using specific X-ray techniques to take Ten-rays of the rima oris,
• Removing stains and tarter on the teeth and gums through advanced scaling techniques
• Applying preventive treatments, like sealants and fluoride, to teeth

Image SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain

Dental Hygienists' Relationships With Patients in Clinical Do

Often, a licensed dental hygienist is the first healthcare professional person a patient sees when they visit a dental office or clinic. In the grade of a regular cleaning and exam, a dental hygienist will typically spend more time with the patient than the dentist does.

Dental hygienists work hard, only they also earn higher salaries than many workers across the U.s.. As of 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a median almanac salary of $77,090 for dental hygienists.

Where Dental Hygiene Graduates Piece of work

The vast majority of dental hygienists work in some sort of dental health facility. These facilities include the following:

• Private dental offices
• Dental hygiene clinics
• Public health clinics

Jobs in dentists' offices accounted for 94 percent of dental hygienist roles in 2020, according to the Agency of Labor Statistics. Whether they work in a dental hygiene dispensary or in a private practice, dental hygienists' job duties are typically pretty similar.

Dental Hygienist Jobs Beyond the Dental Offices

Some dental hygienists work in other types of settings, including physicians' offices, hospitals, corporate health facilities, nursing homes and school systems. Most dental hygienists work in professional practice, just some serve primarily in education and enquiry roles – particularly if they concur an avant-garde degree in dental hygiene.

A dental hygiene program may also prepare yous to piece of work in public wellness agencies. The field of dental public wellness generally emphasizes the availability, accessibility and affordability of dental health services to populations of patients that are normally underserved and have unmet health care needs. Dental hygiene professionals who work in public health may focus on areas like the prevention of man diseases and population health management, the process through which health intendance workers aim to amend clinical patient outcomes.

Whether you desire to work in a dental office or a less conventional setting, you're going to demand a degree in dental hygiene. Fortunately, degrees in dental hygiene with affordable tuition are not equally hard to find as you lot might expect.

Dental Hygiene Education Requirements

Considering the loftier median annual salary for this career path, the level of didactics needed is comparably niggling. Different a dentist who must become to school for many years, a dental hygienist typically needs only a few years of written report to gear up for entry-level jobs in the field.

However, in addition to the credit hours of classroom and laboratory instruction that are required for associate'southward degrees in dental hygiene, clinical hours devoted to experiential learning are required. As part of the practical experience involved in a dental hygiene program, students in their last semester of report may take part in some sort of capstone practicum or another blazon of capstone project.

To qualify for professional person licensure, students should seek out caste programs that have received dental accreditation from the Committee on Dental Accreditation. When a plan is accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation, it has proven that it meet a prepare of high external standards. An aspiring dental hygienist may also want to look for schools that offer small form sizes and courses that embrace contemporary issues and are taught past experienced, dedicated kinesthesia.

Dental Hygiene Associate's Degrees

Typically, y'all can qualify for a dental hygienist function with but an associate's degree. In fact, according to O*Net, 75 per centum of dental hygienists written report an associate caste equally their highest level of formal didactics. All the same, dental hygiene associate degrees are unique, typically requiring 3 years of study and plenty of clinical hours, co-ordinate to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Dental Hygiene Education Beyond the Acquaintance's Degree

Dental hygienists may besides choose to earn a higher level of caste, like a available's caste or even a chief'south degree. Some BS in dental hygiene programs are offered as degree completion programs, a type of bridge programme that permit students with an associate'south degree to build upon their prior coursework to earn a bachelor'due south degree.

Are In that location Cheap Dental Hygiene Schools?

Earning a degree in dental hygiene doesn't accept to plunge you deep into educatee debt. At that place are schools beyond the United States where students seeking degrees in dental hygiene can get an education for just a few g dollars per twelvemonth – well below the national average for annual tuition rates – fifty-fifty without financial aid. That's well below the average bacon for this career, which means that dental hygienists who make at or near the average salary for the occupation over the course of their working life will detect that this caste more than pays for itself.

When you factor in the availability of fiscal aid in the form of  scholarships, grants, work-study opportunities and other forms of assistance, financial help packages make it even affordable to become a dental hygienist.

These schools are oft community colleges and public state universities rather than fancy private universities. Fortunately, there's no shortage of customs colleges and public state schools offer dental hygiene degrees. If you desire a inexpensive way to earn your dental hygienist caste, you simply need to brand affordability a priority in your school search.

Stay Shut to Domicile

When it comes to keeping higher affordable, staying in-land and, where applicative, in-district is one of your best options. Many colleges, especially community colleges and public universities, offer discounted rates to local residents. Some community colleges go so far as to offering their best tuition rates to residents of specific counties or districts.

What this ways is that an institution may be a "cheap" dental hygiene schoolhouse for some students simply not others, depending on geographic location. Students in-land at a generally affordable school may pay tuition of merely a few k dollars per year, while students the next land or district over may have to pay three or four times that much for the exact same education (not counting costs to relocate or rent a identify to live).

In that location's value in seeing and studying in new places, simply when your focus is on affordability, you shouldn't ignore the financial price of going away to college.

A Note Almost the Listed Tuition Costs of "Cheap" Dental Hygiene Programs

The dental hygiene schoolhouse rankings presented here are based on affordability and categorized by caste level. Measures of affordability are based on the most up-to-date tuition data equally of 2022 and presume that the dental hygiene student is taking fifteen credits per semester over the fall and bound terms.

This annual tuition data does not include fees, room, lath, textbooks or other expenses as well tuition and assumes that students are not taking summer or winter classes. Annual tuition rates at near schools alter each year, so prospective students should visit intended schools' most up-to-date tuition page or talk to an admissions counselor about electric current tuition rates and costs of attendance.

Can Yous Earn an Online Dental Hygiene Degree?

Studying online is a great pick to save money on a caste, specially if the alternative would crave you to exit your job and move to a new geographical area. Withal, online tuition rates aren't always cheaper, and sometimes schools tack on extra fees on online learners.

It is possible to become a dental hygiene degree online, only only in sure situations. Since in-person clinical experience is essential for preparing to be a dental hygienist, you typically can't earn your associate caste in this field fully online.

Online dental hygiene degrees are most usually reserved for established dental hygienists who have already finished their associate's caste and earned their licenses. As such, you are more probable to find fully online available'south degree options, or fifty-fifty an online dental hygiene degree at the master'southward level, than online options at the associate's degree level. An online bachelor of dental hygiene can add to the existing qualifications of a practicing dental hygienist.

IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay, public domain

The All-time Cheap Associate's Degree Programs in Dental Hygiene

1. Maricopa Customs Colleges Organisation (Mesa, Rio Salada, Pheonix)

For an associate's caste that volition aid you set up for the licensing process in Arizona, likewise), consider applying to the Maricopa Community Colleges system. Three colleges in this system – Mesa Community College, Phoenix Higher and Rio Salado College – offer dental hygiene programs at the associate caste level.

Residents of Maricopa County and counties with reciprocal agreements pay just $85 per credit, which puts the total tuition cost of the 92- through 102.5-credit degree program (not counting fees) at under $8,000. However, residents of other counties and out-of-land students will pay considerably more – 401 per credit hour and 241 per credit hr, respectively.

In the Acquaintance of Practical Scientific discipline programs in dental hygiene, students complete general education courses such equally English composition, college mathematics, psychology and sociology. Science classes in microbiology and in homo anatomy and physiology – including classes that focus on cervix anatomy and on oral anatomy – are an important part of the curriculum.

Major coursework consists of oral pathology, dental radiology, dental radiography, dental materials and periodontics, the dental specialty that focuses on gums and the structures that support the teeth. Other dental hygiene courses in this degree programme focus on the administration of dental anesthesia, the prevention of dental disease, the do of dental hygiene patient care in medical emergencies, principles of practice direction and methods for community oral health.

The dental hygiene degree programs of all 3 of these community colleges are accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of the American Dental Association.

View program website.

In-country yearly tuition cost: $2,550.00

2. Tyler Inferior College

Students tin pursue either an acquaintance degree or a bachelor's degree completion programme in dental hygiene at Tyler Junior College in Texas, as well as a dental assisting certificate program. At a dental dispensary located directly inside the school's Robert M. Rogers Nursing & Wellness Sciences Center, dental hygiene students tin develop the clinical skills to perform examinations, cleanings, 10-rays and sealants on patients from the community.

Prospective dental hygienists pursuing their Acquaintance of Engineering science degree can wait to take preclinical and clinical classes in dental hygiene every bit well as courses in preventive dental intendance, oral pathology, periodontology, dental materials, dental pharmacology, community dentistry, dental diet and more. This caste path is intended to ready students for licensing exams.

The bachelor'south degree in dental hygiene at Tyler Junior College is meant for practicing dental hygienists who are already licensed just want to expand their knowledge and skills with a four-year degree. As such, applicants must have an associate'south degree already, and their coursework builds upon the foundation of college study they already possess.

This one- to ii-year degree completion program is available online. This program incorporates coursework that ranges from electric current bug and avant-garde ethics in dental hygiene and periodontics to authoritative leadership and cultural competence in oral wellness care.

Tuition costs for students taking 15 credit hours per semester range from $1,481 for in-district students to $2,381 for out-of-commune students and $2,741 for out-of-state students. The AAS program is accredited by the American Dental Association Commission.

View plan website.

In-state yearly tuition cost: $2,962 .00

3. Mississippi Delta Community Higher

An affordable pick for aspiring dental hygienists in the Magnolia State is Mississippi Delta Community College. The AAS caste programme at this Moorhead community college doesn't only meet the educational standards required for dental hygienist licensure in Mississippi simply also prepares students to have the other state board exams administered by the National Board of Dental Examinations. (If you're thinking of working out-of-country, check your intended state'south licensing requirements.)

In this dental hygiene engineering science associate degree programme, students will complete 24 academic hours of coursework and 51 hours of dental hygiene classes. Over the course of the curriculum, dental hygiene students will develop competencies in health promotion, illness prevention, patient intendance, community involvement, ideals and professional growth.

Mississippi Delta Community College's plan, also, has attained programmatic accreditation from the American Dental Clan's Commission on Dental Accreditation. The tuition rate for total-time students – those taking 12 to 21 credit hours per semester – is $ane,545, while part-fourth dimension students pay $130 per credit hour. Out-of-state students are subject to an out-of-state fee of $1,100 per semester.

The low student-to-faculty ratio and the state-of-the-art chief clinical education facility where students can gain real-world practical experience, in and of themselves, make this plan appealing for more than its affordability. For well-nigh a decade, the schoolhouse's graduates have achieved a 100% pass rate on Mississippi state lath exams and on the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination.

View plan website.

In-state yearly tuition cost: $3,090.00

4. Ivy Tech Community Higher

Offer both dental assisting and dental hygiene degrees, Ivy Tech Community College offers courses at 48 locations across the state, plus online. Dental hygiene students at this Indiana institution tin choose from three Ivy Tech campuses: Anderson, South Bend and Elkhart. Courses are structured in eight-week terms, and tuition for full-time in-land students is charged at a flat per-semester rate of $2,243.25.

One of the offset things students should know about this affordable, American Dental Association Commission-accredited program is that getting in won't be piece of cake. This selective admission plan admits only a limited number of students every year, contributing to the small form sizes information technology is able to maintain.

If you lot're determined to apply, you showtime demand to exist accepted into the community college under its healthcare specialist program. In your first few semesters as a healthcare specialist major, you will complete prerequisite coursework in areas like English composition, public speaking and psychology, equally well as basic science courses in biology, chemistry and anatomy and physiology. Then yous can follow a divide application process, which includes taking the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) standardized test.

In this Associate of Applied science in dental hygiene program, students go enough of easily-on clinical experience using the most recent advances in dental applied science in the cut-border dental clinic where they care for real patients from the local community.

This primarily daytime plan will keep students engaged in classroom, laboratory and clinical piece of work throughout the workweek. During the ii-year program, students should be prepared to devote betwixt 16 and 26 hours per calendar week to their on-campus commitments, not counting homework and studying.

View program website.

In-state yearly tuition price: $iv,486.50

5. Utah Valley University

In addition to affordability, Utah Valley University offers small course sizes with a student-to-faculty ratio of only 4-to-1 in its associate'southward in dental hygiene plan, and 99 percent of its graduates pass the country licensing boards. The Orem, Utah, program is big on community outreach, including providing preventive dental care to students at local Title One elementary schools on a weekly basis.

Yous might wait a program with these benefits to be super selective, but in fact, the dental hygiene program accepts all kinds of students – nontraditional students and those fresh out of high schoolhouse, career changers and parents balancing family obligations – through its open enrollment policy. Practicing dental hygienists can pursue the BS in Dental Hygiene, an online bachelor'due south degree completion program.

Tuition rates for 12 or more than credit hours of coursework are $ii,684 for in-state students and $8,225 for out-of-state students. Although non-resident students pay a non-so-affordable $16,450 in tuition only for the fall and leap terms, residents get past with a reasonable $five,368 for the twelvemonth.

View program website.

In-country yearly tuition cost: $5,368.00

half-dozen. Pueblo Community Higher

In add-on to offering both an associate's degree and a available's degree completion programme, Pueblo Community College offers a iii-credit mini-certificate program in the administration of local anesthesia, nitrous oxide and oxygen sedation.

The Colorado school charges per-credit tuition rates of $399.15 for residents and $638.30 for non-residents for the acquaintance's degree program. Assuming effectually thirty credit hours per year (split betwixt fall and spring semesters), this adds up to $11,974.50 for Colorado residents and $19,149. However, Colorado residents qualify for an additional disbelieve through the College Opportunity Fund (COF) stipend, which knocks off another $94 of tuition toll per credit hour. In-country students stop up with a tuition rate of $305.15 per credit or $9,154.50 per year. In this accredited Acquaintance of Applied science in dental hygiene plan, students devote 64.5 credits to their core dental hygiene courses, plus 28 credits to general education courses that include science classes. Core coursework for students in this programme includes clinical theory and practise of dental hygiene, advanced clinical skills, applied pharmacology, a sequence of courses in periodontics and studies in the administration of local anesthesia, nitrous oxide and oxygen sedation.

This dental hygiene program features the opportunity to take optional but recommended courses in ii subjects: clinical dental roentgenology and national boards exam review.

View plan website.

In-country yearly tuition cost: $9,154.l

The All-time Affordable Bachelor's in Dental Hygiene Programs

7. Dixie State University

Dixie State University in St. George, Utah, offers a 124-credit Bachelor of Science in dental hygiene caste that aligns with licensure requirements in the Beehive State. Notable courses in the Available of Science in Dental Hygiene curriculum include dental hygiene theory, tooth morphology, pain command methodology, restorative dental hygiene and advanced theory and practice.

Classes like research methodology, public health administration and care of medically complex patients make this curriculum well-rounded, and then students are ready to work in clinical practice, research or public health roles.

For students taking 12 to 20 credits, undergraduate tuition rates range from $2,532 for the semester for in-country students to $8,094 for non-residents. Dixie State University offers a "Practiced Neighbor Tuition Rate" that applies for sure students from certain Arizona and Nevada counties, nether which students relieve on the not-resident tuition rate but pay 150% of the resident tuition rate.

View program website.

In-country yearly tuition price: $5,064.00

8. Clayton State University

At Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, students can pursue a dental hygiene BS degree accredited by the American Dental Association Commission on Dental Accreditation. In addition to this licensure track plan, the school offers a available's degree completion program, the RDH-BSDH, for students with an associate's caste in dental hygiene.

Bachelor's in dental hygiene programs in dental hygiene include more extensive studies in both general teaching courses and major coursework. On top of the classes commonly required for an acquaintance degree, this Bachelor of Science degree plan encompasses coursework in transitional dental hygiene, advanced dental hygiene, advanced periodontics, interactive communication and management and marketing in a dental environment.

Per credit hr, Clayton Country University charges its in-state dental hygiene students tuition rates of $169.33 and its out-of-state students $616.07. This means the in-state tuition cost is merely $five,079.90, fifty-fifty though out-of-state students pay more than $18,000 a year to pursue this Bachelor of Scientific discipline degree.

View programme website.

In-state yearly tuition price: $five,079.90

9. Wichita State Academy

You'll discover two Bachelor of Scientific discipline in dental hygiene options at Wichita State University in Kansas. The entry-level available's degree program leads to licensure, while the fully online bachelor'southward degree completion program allows experienced health professionals to advance their dental hygiene education. The school recently celebrated its Course of 2020 graduates achieving a 100% pass rate on their National Written and Regional Clinical Boards licensing examinations.

Tuition rates at Wichita State University get a little complicated, with six different rates depending on students' residency. Undergraduate resident students pay $228.09, and that cost climbs all the mode upward to $540.27 for non-residents who don't fit into any tuition disbelieve plan. However, a year of coursework at a four-year academy for under $seven,000 is surprisingly affordable.

View program website.

In-state yearly tuition cost: $6,842.70

10. Indiana Academy at South Curve

The Available of Science in Dental Hygiene program at Indiana Academy at South Bend is offered through the Vera Z. Dwyer College of Health Sciences. Inside this program are pathways for a variety of students: new college students seeking a bachelor'due south degree in dental hygiene, students whose bachelor's degrees are in an unrelated field and professional dental hygienists pursuing a bachelor's degree completion programme.

Students of this accredited, affordable bachelor'due south caste program gain easily-on experience providing care at the Indiana Academy South Bend Dental Hygiene Clinic. Equally part of the school's strong curriculum, students complete a capstone class. Graduates of the programme are prepared to pursue both dental hygiene licensure and local anesthesia certification in Indiana.

In-state undergraduate students at this establishment pay a per-unit tuition rate of $239.01 or a flat charge per unit of $three,584.92 per term if they take 12 to eighteen credit hours in a semester. For out-of-state students, those prices rise to $675.ninety or $10,138.52 per term.

View program website.

In-state yearly tuition toll: $7,169.84

11. Minnesota Land University at Mankato

If you're wondering almost the value of earning a available'due south degree in a field that but requires an associate'south degree, check out the Bachelor'southward in dental hygiene programme at Minnesota State Academy at Mankato. Equally part of their high-quality educational activity, students in the Committee on Dental Accreditation-accredited plan learn avant-garde clinical and technology skills.

Students in the available's in dental hygiene programme gain direct experience using electronic health records and other reckoner-based technologies, like intraoral cameras and digital X-rays. Additionally, students in these dental wellness programs learn how to identify fillings – a skill you typically won't learn at a community college programme – and practise this skill through training that takes place at the school'south on-campus dental clinic and at local community health clinics.

Minnesota State University at Mankato is likewise an option for students looking to earn an online dental hygiene caste. Similar other online colleges for dental hygienists, the online available'due south caste program at Minnesota University accepts students who are already working as registered dental hygienists.

Too their in-country tuition charge per unit of $315.65 per credit or $4,036.25 per semester with a full class load, Minnesota Land Academy has reciprocity agreements and compacts with sure states that allow for discounted tuition.

View plan website.

In-land yearly tuition toll: $8,072.l

12. Augusta University

Augusta University's dental hygiene degree programme includes both a available'southward in dental hygiene track designed to prepare students for initial licensure and a bachelor'south degree completion program option. Major coursework requirements make up 65 of the 129 credits required for graduation and consist of classroom, clinical and laboratory work.

While Georgia residents will find this dental hygiene programme affordable, not-residents will not. In-state students of August University pay undergraduate tuition rates of $295.47 per credit hour or $4,432.00 per semester that includes 10 or more credit hours of study. For out-of-country students, those rates climb to $945.93 per 60 minutes or $14,189.00 per semester.

This program is a "two+2" program in which the start two years, which are devoted to prerequisites and full general didactics coursework, tin exist taken at whatever accredited college. Out-of-country students can salve coin by meeting these requirements at an in-state school and and then transferring to Augusta.

View program website.

In-state yearly tuition cost: $eight,864.00

13. Northern Arizona University

For a dental hygiene program that emphasizes public wellness, consider the Bachelor of Science program offered past Northern Arizona Academy. On height of more than traditional studies in dental hygiene, students in this programme complete classes in ethics and law in healthcare, oral wellness research, oral wellness outcomes, assessment and program planning and program implementation and evaluation.

In addition to undertaking clinical rotations at several local health centers, students tin can pursue a summer externship – domestically, in areas similar Phoenix and Camp Pendleton, or abroad, in countries similar Peru and Ghana.

Northern Arizona University doesn't break down the toll of omnipresence between tuition and fees, but students can expect to pay $10,650 in-state or $25,396 out-of-land in tuition and fees. Under the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE), students from 14 other states can relieve forty% on the non-resident tuition rate.

View programme website.

In-state yearly tuition cost: $10,650.00

The All-time Affordable Chief's Caste Programs for Dental Hygienists

14. Westward Virginia University

Chief's degrees are uncommon in the clinical practice of dental hygiene, simply many dental hygienists pursue these advanced degrees to prepare for a role in research, teaching, administration or management. The Master of Scientific discipline in Dental Hygiene program at West Virginia Academy can prepare an experienced dental hygienist for any of these paths.

Tuition rates for graduate students range from $499 per credit or $iv,491 per semester for in-state students to $one,407 per credit or $12,663 per semester for out-of-state students. The program requires 37 semester hours of study, plus a thesis. Students complete coursework in health policy foundations, teaching and research methods, applied biostatistics and problems in health intendance, besides every bit electives in areas like business, education, medicine and community health promotion.

View program website.

In-state yearly tuition cost: $ten,332.00

15. Eastern Washington Academy

The Principal of Science in dental hygiene plan at Eastern Washington University is intended for health care professionals who already accept experience providing dental hygiene care in clinical environments. In this online dental hygiene program, students are required to visit the Spokane, Washington, campus on two occasions. However, the classes required for this degree – which include studies in healthcare leadership, dental hygiene instructional methods and curriculum design, public wellness promotion and healthcare policies – can be completed fully online.

Too its master's degree, the school besides offers dental health education at the document, bachelor's and available'southward degree completion levels.

Graduate students at Eastern Washington University pay $12,723 in-state tuition or $28,776 out-of-state tuition. For the online Master of Scientific discipline degree, all students pay in-state tuition. Undergraduate tuition rates are $7,104 for residents and $25,464 for non-resident students.

View program website.

In-state yearly tuition price: $12,723.00

What Else to Look for in Degrees in Dental Hygiene

Before you take the first pace to a career equally a licensed dental hygienist, make yous are considering your future career goals and where you are now.

Are you looking for an accelerated choice that permit you to complete the total programme faster than is typical for this iii-twelvemonth degree, or would a school offering office-time options for working students be a better fit for y'all personally?

Does attending a school with residency requirements and enough of hands-on instruction brand sense for you, or are you lot looking for strictly online learning, other than the necessary clinical component?

Do yous want to focus exclusively on your dental hygiene training, or are you willing to take the liberal arts and general education courses that you would encounter in a bachelor's program and potentially be prepared to work in practice management roles in dental offices?

When y'all're choosing a school to become a dental hygienist, at that place's a lot more to think about too the annual tuition.

Conclusion

Dental hygienists are a critical role of a dental health squad, and the career includes a positive job outlook, loftier earning potential and fulfilling piece of work in patient care. No affair which level of caste you lot're pursuing, looking at school rankings similar ours can assistance you lot focus your school search and find affordable options to further your education in dental hygiene.

Related Resources

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